The Best Week of Her Life
by Lumos-MischiefManaged-Nox
Summary: The string of horrible and unlucky events that eventually turn one of the worst weeks that Emily Prentiss has ever experienced into one of the best, with the help of the one and only Derek Morgan, of course.
1. Prologue

The Best Week of Her Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even Criminal Minds..

A/N: I really have no idea where I am going with this yet…so any ideas or suggestions would be really helpful.

Pairing: Morgan/Prentiss

Enjoy! And let me know what you think. :)

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Friday, April 13th - 9:32 a.m.

Supervisory Special Agents' Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss drew their guns as they were approaching the front door. The Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner and SSA Jennifer "JJ" Jareau were at the back door. SSA's Spencer Reid and David Rossi were in the shed at the back of the isolated property. They all knew that they needed to arrest the Unsub, so hopefully they could find some clue that could tell them where the suspect was hiding.

"One, two, three!" Hotch spoke over the radio system.

"Liam Duncan, this is the FBI. We're coming in!" Prentiss yelled into the house as Morgan kicked in the door on Hotch's count. Hotch did the same thing to the back, and Rossi knocked the garage door in as well. The BAU took over Liam Duncan's home.

Prentiss and Morgan took half the main floor and the upstairs as planned, while Hotch and JJ took the rest, including the basement.

"Clear," Rang out Hotch's voice.

"We have another body," came Reid's over the radio, "she's already dead. There is evidence in here that suggests this is where he must have kept all the women."

They were too late to save another victim, but it didn't mean that they still couldn't get the Unsub. JJ headed outside to join Rossi and Reid, while Hotch headed outside as well to organize the local authority. They both assumed that Morgan and Prentiss would be out of the house as soon as it was cleared, so the team could profile it to see where else Duncan could be hiding.

Morgan and Prentiss were almost finished clearing the upper floor, there were only two doors left. Both doors were on opposite sides of the hallway and each agent took a door.

"Clear!" Morgan's roomed turned out to be nothing more than a closet, so he turned to follow Prentiss.

Prentiss had just entered the last remaining room when the Unsub, Liam Duncan jumped her from behind. He had been crouched beside a small table, that was hidden from view. He knocked her gun away, grabbed her and pulled Prentiss to his chest, putting his gun to her temple. Before the raid, the team had it under good authority that Duncan would not be home, so the shock of seeing the suspect had momentarily stilled Prentiss allowing Duncan to control her.

Duncan whispered in Prentiss' ear, "You move, you die."

Emily Prentiss had been in difficult situations before and her mind was working overtime to figure a way to get out. Duncan backed himself and Prentiss towards the window and he kept his gun on her the whole time.

Morgan busted though the door as soon as he did not hear Prentiss clear the area. As soon as his eyes sweep the room, he saw the predicament that she was in. Morgan trained his gun on the criminal, yelling "Duncan, release her!"

"No! I'm already going down for eleven murders, what's one more?" The disturbed young man asked.

"We can make a deal, if you put down your weapon," Morgan encouraged as he made eye contact with Prentiss.

Suddenly, Prentiss ducked as Morgan shot. Duncan was hit in the shoulder. He fell backwards towards the opened window and dragged Prentiss with him and they both fell to the ground.

Morgan watched in horror as his partner fell to the ground two stories below. He quickly turned around and headed outside to ensure the safety of his partner before she had even hit the earth, because if thee was one thing he knew, it was that he could not lose her again.

There was a definite crack as Prentiss hit the gravel below her, landing on her side a split second before her head hit the ground causing her to black out.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Still don't down anything…like that's ever going to change.

A/N: This chapter occurs a week before the prologue. And thanks to those who reviewed the first part, it is really encouraging.

Please let me know what you think :)

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><p>Friday, April 6th – 7:41 a.m.<p>

The BAU team had just gotten back from a case in Florida and were supposed to be finishing up some files for the case, but Emily would not be joining them because she had been suspended. It was her first infraction since her return from the "dead".

As soon as the jet had landed, early in the morning, Emily had been called into Hotch's office. Even before they had touched down Emily knew she would be reprimanded for her behaviour towards the local authority.

She reluctantly walked up the stairs to stand in front of Hotch's door as the rest of the team filed in to begin their paper work. Emily hesitantly knocked and opened the door when she was told to enter.

"Hey, you wanted to see me?" She asked cautiously.

"Yes, please take a seat Prentiss," but before Hotch could continue with his speech, Emily interrupted him.

"Hotch, I know I shouldn't have yelled at Officer Reynolds, but the man had it coming!"

Hotch sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that Emily Prentiss would not take what he had to say lightly, "Prentiss, you yelled, cursed and punched at a police officer."

"With all due respect Sir, he deserved it. He asked me to get him coffee because he liked to watch a 'pretty women' served him," Emily replied using air quotes to mock the Officer. "He also said that the ladies should leave the criminals to the big boys and I should stay the precinct where he could keep me safe. Even JJ was going to take a swing at him sooner or later!"

"I'll admit he was out of line, but that still did not give you the right to break his nose," Hotch stated, sounding like he was talking to a child rather than one of his agents. "Prentiss, you will be suspended for the remainder of the day. And then desk duty, until our superiors have time to look over the complaint."

"Hotch! Are you serious?"

"Yes, if I don't suspend you the higher ups will feel that we are an unprofessional unit. I'm sorry and I will see you Monday," he replied looking down to his case files indicating that the conversation was not up for debate.

Emily stopped arguing, got up and quickly went to her desk. She packed up her files because she knew that Hotch would expect them to be completed by Monday, whether or not she was in the office or not. Emily exited the bullpen without looking at her fellow agents and headed home. If she would have looked up at her friends she would have noticed JJ, Morgan and Garcia's concerned glances and Reid diligently working on his case files totally oblivious to his surroundings.

As Emily drove home she tried to see the positives of being suspended. At least she could finish unpacking her belongings, which had been in storage, into her new apartment. That was really the only good thing she could think of.

Suspended! What a great way to start off the day…

xXxXxXx

8:29 a.m.

Emily barged up the stairs to her apartment, the drive over had just ended up making her angrier. Since she was furious she missed the warming notice on the front door of the building as she rushed to get inside.

With the key in the lock, Emily turned the knob and opened her door. She was met with water leaking over the threshold, as she looked inside she saw her whole apartment was filled with water. She sighed and waded into her home. At least most of her stuff was still in plastic containers.

Emily set her bags on the counter and pulled out her cell phone. She called her voice mail to see if she could find an explanation for her flooded apartment. There were two missed calls on her phone; the first was about her over due library books, so she just skipped past it but the second message from the apartment manager.

"Hello Ms. Prentiss. Its Susan, I am in charge of the apartment complex. I am sorry that I was unable to reach you in person, but if you are home you have probably noticed that there was a water pipe break. We had to evacuate your floor of the building. Hopefully you are able to find a place to stay in the meantime. I am hoping that the repairs will only take a couple of weeks to be completed. Anyway, please grab your belongings, or at least the ones you wish to save and your insurance policy should cover the rest. Please call me back, so I can ensure you have gotten this message and evacuated, so the repairs can begin. Once again I would like to apologize, and I hopefully will speak to you soon."

Emily groaned, that woman was way too cheery for delivering such problematic news. She called Susan back. Grabbing a few bags, Emily spent most of the morning packing up her things, especially her belongings that she did not wish to become damaged by the water.

She did not want to stay at a hotel because she spent enough time in them while on cases. So she loaded her car full of boxes, bags and containers of her possessions and drove to her mothers.

"This is already a shitty day!" Emily complained to herself.

xXxXxXx

11:12 a.m.

It hadn't taken her too long to pack up her things because most of it was still in boxes form storage. With her car full, Emily pulled her vehicle into her mother, the Ambassador's house.

Emily approached the steps gingerly, her relationship with her mother had improved since she had helped with the case a few years back, but they were still on bumpy ground. Emily rang the bell and was greeted by one of the many house workers.

"Ah, Ms. Prentiss, please come in. Would you like to speak with the Ambassador?"

"Yes, please Gregory," Emily replied as she stepped inside the house.

"One moment please," Gregory said as he made his exit to retrieve the Ambassador.

Over fifteen minutes later, the Ambassador finally came to the door to great her daughter.

"Emily, dear. What can I do for you?" her mother asked polite as ever.

"Umm... Mother, would it be possible for me to stay here for a while, you see my apartment has flooded and it's now under repair."

"No, Emily we will just find you another apartment," stated the Ambassador as was interrupted by Gregory bringing her a phone with an obviously important call.

Emily internally rolled her eyes; of course her mother wouldn't want her to stay where she could be seen by members of her political circle.

Emily decided she would just go, "No need Mother, I will just find another place to stay. I will call you later so we can meet for lunch some time soon."

The Ambassador nodded in agreement to her daughter; with a good bye she closed the door on Emily.

Emily jumped back into her car and thought about where to go. She really didn't have anyone other than her team. Maybe she could burden one of them for a few weeks. So even though she was suspended, she headed to Quantico.

xXxXxXx

12:43 p.m.

The BAU team had been working hard to finish their case files so that they could get home to start the weekend. Hotch had sent them home at noon, when the team was almost finished their work, saying that he did not want to see them until Monday.

When Emily got into the building she noticed that everyone had left for the afternoon, even Hotch had gone home to see Jack. She had been hoping to talk to any of her team mates and get some advice on where she should stay. It looked like she would not receive any help until Monday.

Emily could not believe the turn of events. The day had started out with the team heading home from a case like normal, but then she got suspended; now her home was flooded and she was out of a place to stay. She brought some of her stuff inside and set up camp at her desk. Weren't Friday's suppossed to be the best day of the week?

Emily pulled out some of her case files and began to work because she really had nothing better to do. After writing for a few hours Emily fell asleep out of sheer boredom.

A/N: That's all for chapter 1!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own Criminal Minds.

A/N: This follows chapter 1, and a bit of Derek's side of the story. Sorry it took so long to get this up. This started off being under 9 hundred words and then somehow managed to double in size… Don't ask me how. :)

Enjoy! And let me know if you liked it.

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><p>Friday, April 6th – 4:18 p.m.<p>

Hotch had let everyone go home early, right after lunch. The only catch was that the files for the past case had to be completed by Monday. Derek Morgan had decided to hit Quantico's weight room and work off some stress with his new found free time.

Derek had started off running, then went to push ups and now he was at the punching bag. Every time his fist connected with the bag he envisioned Officer Reynolds' face, the cop from their latest case in Florida. Derek ignored the sweat dripping into his eyes because he was focused on the task at hand, which was destroying Reynolds. Every time Derek thought of the way Reynolds looked at his BAU ladies, he hit the bag harder.

Derek kicked the bag as he remembered the way that cop was flirting. He felt a claim to his girls, only he could flirt with them in a friendly way because he knew no other man would ever be good enough for them. Garcia had Kevin, and JJ had Will, Derek had already spoken, well threatened them to treat his ladies right. Over time Derek grew to respect those two men and they had been deemed worthy of his blonde friends.

Over the last eight months, since Emily had returned from the "dead", Derek had become more protective of his friend. It was his duty to not let anything harm her. So when his mind went back to Reynolds flirting with Prentiss, the anger built again because he knew that no one would ever be good enough for her. Her. His Emily.

Derek was now beating the shit out of the punching bag, leaving no time in between punches as he demolished the bag. He had heard that Emily had hit Reynolds in the jaw while he was not in the building. Derek wished he could have been the one to hit the officer to protect Emily. He knew that his girl could handle herself just fine without help, but he wished she would be able to work without having to fight off chauvinist pigs. Reynolds was so disrespectful, and Emily deserved much more than that.

Finally when Derek had used almost every ounce of energy and his anger had diminished, he hit the showers. He finished up with his shower, packed his bag and had to make one final stop to desk to pick up some case files that needed completing this weekend.

xXxXxXx

Derek walked down to the bull pen and opened the door. He saw that everyone must have gone straight home when Hotch had said they could leave. Derek began to think up a weekend plan. He would hit the bar, pick up a lucky lady, and well, now that he thought about it he actually didn't fell like having another one night 'relationship' with a random woman. They were so impersonal and cold, like the job. Derek realized that he now needed a connection. Maybe Reid was right, he was maturing, because now that he thought about it he was looking for a different type of woman. Not one that you found at the clubs, but one that you could actually start a family with because he was ready to give up the bachelor lifestyle. Actually, someone more like Emily. Wow, his thought were all over the place tonight, at least there was a baseball game on TV tonight so he could forget about the cases for a little while and his lack personal life as of lately.

Derek was brought back to reality by a muffled snore from the desks in the bull pen. And there he saw Emily Prentiss asleep at her desk, before he could help himself he let out a small laugh at seeing the brunette feet up and her arms hanging over the edge of her chair. Her hair was wild and he had never seen her look so realized since her return. His laugh caused Emily's eyes to shoot open; she quickly tried to put her feet back on the ground to try to regain some of her dignity from snoring. As her body swung around, she fell out of her chair landing flat on her back in the middle of the floor. Now all her dignity was lost.

"Sorry Princess! I didn't mean to scare you," Derek said while giving Emily a hand up. "What are you doing here anyway; I thought Hotch had sent you home?" Derek continued to laugh at the disgruntled brunette who was still trying to rearrange her wrinkled shirt after her more than embarrassing fall.

"Oh great, everyone knows I'm suspended." Emily sighed with a hint of a blush on her cheek, still slightly humiliated. "And my apartment is flooded, so I'm camping out here."

"Are you sleeping here then?" Derek asked with concern.

""It looks that way."

"Seriously Em," he continued with an eye roll.

Emily replied, "Well my Mother is much too busy to have her daughter stay with her and I am dreading going to a hotel."

"So where are you sleeping tonight?"

"You're looking at it, home sweet home!" She added with a sarcastic laugh.

"Nope, you are coming home with me tonight."

"Derek, is that the way you pick up the ladies?" She asked with a seriously with a hint of a smile behind her eyes.

"Yes it is," he says as he picks her bag up, "and it always works." With a wink and a wide grin Derek walked out of the BAU, after picking up his case files. He knew Emily would have no choice but to follow because he had her stuff with him.

It always works he thought as he saw Emily packing up the rest of her belongings to follow him.

xXxXxXx

6:25 p.m.

Since Derek's SUV was bigger than Emily's car they loaded up all her things inside. The ride was fairly quick and quiet because Emily was refusing to talk to Derek because she he had forced her to come to his house.

"Umm, Derek where are going?" Emily asked as she recognized the neighbourhoods they were passing noticing that they were no where near Derek's place.

"To pick up your stuff," he replied nonchalantly.

Emily huffed, "You know there isn't much to pick up."

The duo pulled up at Emily's place and entered her home. As Derek looked around at the water damage he also noticed that there really wasn't much at her home. It was obvious that she hadn't unpacked with her things still in boxes and it looked like she was not comfortable here. This new place was much smaller and lacked the large windows. It sort of embodied a hide out rather than home.

"So Em," Derek began, "Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah, I will just pack a few more clothes then we can go."

Emily splashed into her room to load her whole closet into a few bags. She was glad she had let Garcia keep her cat, Sergio, over the cases because the technical analyst insisted that she hadn't seen the cat in ages. She knew Sergio would not have apprieciated the water. Emily sighed because she knew that Derek was profiling her home. It was evident that she was uncomfortable and unsettled; she knew that he would bring it up at some point. She hoped it would be later because she did not want to deal with it right now.

Emily returned to her living room, "Derek, we can go now," she said to the man on her couch.

They got back into the car.

"Well thanks for that Em, I'm going to need to get new boots. You place is really flooded."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I-" Emily tried to apologize.

Derek cut her off, "Whoa there princess, I was just kidding. These boots are water resistant."

They fell into a silence, not really an awkward one but still a silence none the less, for the remainder of the ride to Derek's.

xXxXxXx

7:41 p.m.

Once at Derek's home, they brought in all her belongings.

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, I really appreciate it."

"No problem Princess," he replied with an arm around her shoulder. "So I realize that I don't have another bed made up, so you can take my room, just put your stuff in there."

"I don't think so Derek, I will take the couch."

Derek ignored her refusal, "Okay, let's order a pizza and put on a movie."

The pair got themselves organized; they got their pizza and popped in a random comedy movie that they didn't have to pay too much attention too. The silence from the car ride had returned with only Derek's dog Clooney's panting breaking the silence. The large dog had curled up right beside Emily, his new best friend, in between her and Derek.

Eventually when the movie had ended they sat there unsure of how to continue. They had never experienced awkward silences before she left, but now it seemed that they both were keeping secrets from each other.

"Well, we should head to bed," Derek began.

Emily guided Derek to his room. "You sleep in here, I will take the couch. Really Derek its no big deal. This is your house." Emily crossed her arms and gave him a look that Derek knew he could not ague with. He knew that he could just move her when she fell asleep.

"Alright Em, goodnight," He replied and gave her a hug.

Emily nodded and turned to get ready for bed in the guest bathroom. When she returned she tried to settle on the couch but it was rock hard and there was board running down the middle. Emily continued to try to get comfy. Seriously, she had no house, was suspended and sleeping on her friend's hard couch, this day really topped the list. And now there was a dog breathing in her face because Clooney seemed to think that she was sleeping in his spot. Finally, sleep over took Emily.

xXxXxXx

Saturday, April 7th - 2:37 a.m.

Derek woke up when he heard quiet moans. He exited his room to see Emily tossing and turning in her sleep. He knew that she was uncomfortable, because that was Clooney's bed, it really wasn't meant for people. Derek picked his sleeping friend up in his arms and saw her visibly relax in his arms. He had a correction to make, she now looked more at ease in his arms then she did while in the bull pen. Her eyelashes fell over her cheeks and her hair fanned across his arms, she looked beautiful. He had no idea where that train of thought had come from. Derek entered his room, with Clooney following his new friend, he laid her down in his king sized bed and climbed in beside her. He did not want to invade her space so he kept a gap in between him, but continued to watch her until sleep over took him as well.

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><p>And that's Chapter 2!<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still do no own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. I wish I did though.

A/N: So this story has taken on a mind of its own, because once I had laid it out it was only going to be 3, maybe 4 chapters. It's going to take a lot longer than I originally thought! Oops… And thanks to those who reviewed, and there will be some cuddling for **lovelover7891**.

Enjoy! And reviews are always appreciated. :)

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><p>Saturday, April 7th – 9:23 a.m.<p>

Emily's eyes fluttered open as sunlight from the window passed in front of her face. She blinked a few times and took in her surroundings. This was most definitely not where she fell asleep. As that thought was processing, she noticed an arm that was thrown across her waist. Emily would know that arm anywhere, it belonged to Derek Morgan. What the hell was she doing in bed with him?

Emily tensed as she felt Derek move behind her. Suddenly she was pulled flush against Derek's chest and breathed in the scent that was uniquely him.

"Morning Princess," Derek whispered in her ear, "We got to sleep in."

"Hi. Ah, Derek… What am I doing in your bed?" Emily asks awkwardly.

With his arm still holding her to his chest, Derek answered, "You were tossing and turning out on the couch, so I thought you would be more comfortable in here.

"Well I was fine out there; you should have just left me on the couch." Emily replied as she lifted Derek's arm off of her. She got out of his bed and quickly exited the room without looking at him. She hated to sound like she was not thankful for his help, but having Derek so close to her was encouraging some less than professional thoughts.

xXxXxXx

Emily locked herself in Derek's bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed with just the thought of being so near to Derek. As she got ready for the day she heard pots and pans banging all around, Derek must be up as well. She exited the bathroom after a shower and saw Derek fast at work in the kitchen.

"Sleep well Princess?" He asked her with a cheeky grin, obviously not affected by their sleeping arrangements.

If Derek could pretend like it was no big deal that they shared a bed, then so could she. "It wasn't the worst sleep I've ever had, but someone kept hogging the covers."

"No way Sunshine, that was you!" Emily just smiled and shook her head at his comment. "Take a seat Em, breakfast will be right up," he instructed.

Emily sat down on a high bar stool in front of the kitchen, so she could watch him putter around while cooking. Just then a plateful of pancakes, bacon and fruit was set before her by her house host.

"Bon appétit!" Derek stated with a horrible French accent that made Emily cringe at his awful pronunciation.

"Merci," she replied with the proper accent, "It looks delicious."

Derek sat down next to her with his own plate in front of himself; "Oh, I forgot the syrup," with that he was out of his seat.

Emily's mind began to wander. She had been best friends with Derek before she "died", and now they were currently trying to return to that stage. They had still experienced awkward and tense moments, like last night on the couch. There friendship was improving, but there still seemed to be some unsaid and unresolved problems.

She continued on with her musing, and realized that she could never quite figure out Derek Morgan. He had always had this tough guy façade, but moments where he was just making breakfast or anytime he talked to Garcia over the phone, he showed he was a softy. He was big teddy bear, one that she did not mind cuddling with... Where were her thoughts off to today?

"Em-"

*Smack*

Emily was pulled from her thoughts, as a container of syrup hit her right in the forehead and knocked her off her seat.

"Owww! WHAT THE HELL?" Emily yelled as she landed on her back on Derek's floor.

"Oh shit, Em. I'm so sorry, I thought you were looking at me," was Derek's reply as he pulled her to her feet.

Emily tried to brush him off, "I'm fine." She just wanted to go back to sleep where nothing could get to her. "Why'd you throw the syrup at me?" She demanded of Derek.

"Well, I told you I was just going to toss it over because I had to flip some more pancakes. What were you thinking about that had you so distracted?"

Immediately Emily's cheek turned red, as she silently damned her pale skin for outing her thought process, "Oh nothing," she answered lamely.

"Okay…" Derek replied, as he returned to eat his breakfast.

Emily began to eat as well, but she refused to put syrup on her pancakes. She had actually gotten hit in the head with syrup. What a way to start the day. At least she knew that it could not get any worse than an awkward wake up and a possibly bruised forehead.

xXxXxXx

Derek kept peaking over at his colleague; he couldn't get over how cute she was when blushing. He could get used to this flustered Emily; she was much different than the unflappable Agent Prentiss he saw on the job.

"Em, usually Saturday is the day I take Clooney for a run. I was planning to run and then finished up some case files. You are welcome to join us, unless you have some other plans," he didn't want to force her to join them.

"No, actually a run in the park sounds great!" She replied enthusiastically.

Derek sent Emily one of his trademark smiles, glad that he would be able to spend the remainder of the day with her.

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><p>And that is the end of Chapter 3!<p> 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: If I did own Criminal Minds, would I be sitting at my computer making up stories… No, what you read would be what you see on TV.

A/N: And as always I'd love to know what you think!

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><p>Saturday, April 7th – 3:42 p.m.<p>

The sun was shining over head on a beautiful spring day. Some of the trees already had leaves, and flowers were sprouting all around. The park near Derek's place was full of people, all enjoying the day.

The pair of agents were making their way along the main path with Clooney leading the way. They had finished their case work before they left the house. They both were wearing light spring jackets and Emily had yellow rubber boats on, because of the recent rain.

To anyone who was watching the two friends, they would think that they were dating or even married because of the closeness they displayed. The pair kept bumping shoulders and their fingers would constantly brush they others with each swing of their arms. They were much too close for "just friends".

Derek and Emily had managed to keep their conversations flowing and avoided any work topics. Emily tried to prevent bring up tonight's sleeping arrangements because she knew that would probably stall their talking. She did not want that because she was enjoying spending time with Derek.

They continued their walk and soon came to a group of young boys playing football in the field; well actually they were trying to retrieve their ball from a tree. Derek saw the trouble the boys were having and noticed the ball wasn't too high up in the tree. "Here Em, you take Clooney for a moment," he said while passing the leash over, "I'll be right back."

Derek took off at a run to go assist the young boys. Emily shook her head at the man's insistence to play hero. "Be careful, Derek!" She yelled after him, knowing that he may due something that could possibly injury himself just to get the ball down. She watched as her athletic friend introduced himself to the boys.

Emily looked on as Derek, jumped. She was impressed by his vertical, but he was still a metre shy of the ball. He came up with a new tactic. Derek grabbed one of the lower branches that would have been out of reach for the boys and hoisted himself up using primarily his upper body strength.

The football came down as Derek shook the branch. The boys cheered and high-fived their new idol when he came down from the tree. Emily began to cheer as well at Derek's accomplishment.

Derek began to run back to Emily and Clooney, but before he got there Clooney spotted a squirrel. Any dog owner knows what that means, except Emily was never allowed a dog as a child, so when Clooney began to stalk towards the small mammal she thought nothing of it.

The large dog broke into a run and a not expecting Emily soon found herself being dragged over the wet grass.

"Stop, Clooney!" She tried yelling out, but it was no use. That large dog was in chase mode and was not listening to anyone. She was being pulled by her wrist which was caught on the leash.

Derek changed his direction to pursue his dog and friend. "Clooney, heel!" Derek tried, but he was too far behind them.

Emily tried to dig her feet into the ground to stop Clooney, but her rubber boots had no traction or grip. Clooney continued to chase the squirrel and was dragging Emily through mud puddles. The squirrel eventually took refuge in a tree and Derek was able to catch up to Emily and Clooney so he could restrain his dog.

Emily was lying flat on her back, covered head to toe in mud. She was scraped up and her hair was full of grass and leaves. Derek couldn't help but laugh as he helped his friend up again.

"Princess, you spend way too much time on the ground. Are you always this prone to accidents?"

Emily groaned out as a reply. Her muscles had taken a beating from being dragged. Well at least nothing more could go wrong, she thought to herself, her quota of unfortunate events has been filled for the month.

xXxXxXx

4:24 p.m.

The duo returned to Derek's to get Emily cleaned up. She immediately hit the shower. Derek kept Clooney outside so he could hose off the dirty dog.

Emily and Derek enjoyed a nice relaxing diner where nothing else seemed to go wrong, until they put in a movie like they did the night before. What they both had thought was a comedy turned out to be a romantic comedy. The plot line of the movie closely related to their lives. Best friends who worked together and eventually fell in love. The two agents sat fidgeting on the couch because neither of them wanted to bring up the similarities to their lives.

"Like that would ever happen," Emily snorted.

"Yeah," agreed Derek, "Friends would never do that…"

Unknown to each other, they both were thinking the exact opposite of what they were saying out loud.

xXxXxXx

10:53 p.m.

The pair separated into the two washrooms to get ready for bed. Derek had shut the door to his room to get changed. Emily wondered if she should just join him in his room. She paused outside his door contemplating if she should knock. Clooney paced outside the closed entrance with her, and eventually she lifted her fist to the door.

Derek opened the door and Emily's throat suddenly became dry. "Umm, so, could I possibly sleep in here? The couch was just a little uncomfortable, not saying that it's a bad couch or anything. Anyway, I- I had the best sleep when I slept with you, I mean when we slept together…no when we shared a bed. Since I got back, I've been having trouble sleeping and having some one there was incredibly helpful, it allowed be to relax," she trailed off.

Derek spent the whole time that Emily was rambling on smirking at his brunette friend. "Em, I was just about to come out to get you, so we could go to sleep. Come on silly girl; get your butt in here." He opened the door wider to let her in.

Emily sighed, she had just revealed more about herself than she wanted too. She followed Derek in to his room, and quickly hopped into the bed. Derek pulled the blankets over top of them, as they laid on their backs looking up at the ceiling.

"Mayb-"

"Derek-"

They both started to speak at the same time. "You go first, Derek." Emily offered.

"Well, I was thinking," Now it was Derek's turn to be unsure of himself, "I was wondering if you wanted to maybe sleep beside each other."

"Isn't that what we are doing?" She asked suspiciously.

"Here, let me show you," Derek stated, as he put his arm around Emily and pulled her to his chest. She instinctively wrapped her arms around him and she laid her head on his chest. "See, I just figured that we would probably end up this way in the morning, like yesterday. So to avoid any awkwardness let's just start this way."

"Sounds good to me," Emily mumbled into his chest, as his steady heartbeat had already began to lull her to sleep.

* * *

><p>AN2: And that's all for today, I will try to update soon! :)


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

A/N: So I am running out of unfortunate events for Emily. If you have any ideas PM me. The worse the better :)

Enjoy!

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><p>April 8th – 6:47 a.m.<p>

Derek awoke the next morning to feel Emily still snuggled against him, the same way they were before they fell asleep. Emily was using his chest as a pillow, her arms resting around him and their legs were tangled together. Derek noticed that she was still asleep, and wondered if he should risk it. He decided to go for it. He was about to, when she stirred and snuggled closer to him.

Was he crazy, she could have caught him. It was a good thing he didn't do it, what would she think if she woke up to feel her friend kissing her?

Derek looked over at the clock and saw that they could sleep in for a while longer. Maybe when he woke up the second time, these strange thoughts would no longer be with him.

An hour or so later, Derek woke again. This time it was due to movement next to him. Emily was up as well.

"Good Morning Em," he said in a quiet voice to ensure he did not spook her.

"Morning Derek!" She replied without the awkwardness that had accompanied them yesterday morning, "So what's today's plan?"

"We could go to the park with Clooney again." Derek stated with a mocking tone in his voice.

"I don't think so. I am never again going for a walk with him!"

"Okay Princess," he laughed at his bed buddy, "how about I go with Clooney for a quick run and then be back for breakfast?"

Emily nodded her head in agreement, "Sure."

Derek continued, "You can also sleep in a little longer, how's that sound?"

"Amazing," was all she had to say as she laid her head back down on Derek's chest.

Neither wanted to beak the relaxing position they were laying in, but eventually Derek got up. He knew if he didn't Clooney would soon be trying to join them in bed. Derek rolled over, but laid Emily on the mattress as he did so, to make sure that he did not startle the sleeping brunette.

As he got up to leave, he pushed her hair back and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. So he decided it do, it would seem that he could not resist Emily.

Emily's eyes flashed open, to look right into Derek's as he had not pulled away yet. They both froze, staring at each other. Derek internally cursed; this was exactly the moment he was trying to avoid.

"Ah sorry…I'll be back soon," Derek opted out of an explanation. Really, what could he say, I slipped? He quickly left his room to find Clooney, and did not glance back at his bed's occupant.

xXxXxXx

8:06 a.m.

Emily had turned over as soon as Derek apologized. She knew she would not be getting back to sleep anytime soon, so she waited until she heard the front door shut. As she waited all she could think to her self, was that Derek Morgan had just kissed her.

Sure, he kissed Garcia all the time, but that was in a friendly, completely platonic sort of way. The only thing was that they _never_ kissed. Sometimes they hugged, but usually just a pat on the arm, or hand on the shoulder. Never a kiss.

Emily wondered if this meant that he wanted to step up their relationship. Probably not, because Derek was more of a hands on kind of guy so he was just doing what he would do with any girl. A kiss on the forehead was more of a family thing, like mother to a child. The kiss, ha, it was a lame peck. Emily sighed to herself; she would not dwell on it because it probably meant nothing to him.

Emily decided to get up because she would not accomplish anything by staying in Derek's bed. She wandered around his home looking for something to do. Picking up the remote, Emily put the television on, but no shows could keep her interest. Instead, she plugged in her IPod, and set out to the kitchen to make a surprise breakfast.

She saw the look in his eyes, as he pulled away from their tense staring contest. She knew he was worried about her reaction to the kiss. Hopefully by making breakfast, she could show that it meant nothing and that she was truly grateful to him for letting her stay here.

Emily danced around the kitchen, still in her pyjamas to her Queen Playlist, collecting eggs, milk and potatoes for hash browns. She had never really been good in the kitchen, because all the times she had tried she was shooed out by the staff.

As she began to put the eggs on the element, one of her favourite songs came on. She threw her dish towel down and left the kitchen in favour of a larger dancing space.

A few minutes later, Derek and Clooney returned home, but Emily didn't hear them come in. Emily was dancing, wiggling her hips, she tried to pulled of a complex spin move and found herself at Derek's feet.

He turned down the music and helped her up. While doing so could not contain his laughter, "You are the clumsiest person I know."

"That's why mother insisted I took dance lessons, but the teacher made me sit out and 'watch the graceful girls dance'," she quoted, "I was in charge of stopping and starting the music."

Derek just kept on laughing at his partner; she never failed to keep him amused.

Emily was glad to have this tense free moment with him because it kept both their minds off the wake up kiss, allowing them to move past it.

"So how was the run?" Emily asked.

"Refreshing," Derek answered, "So what should we do – Emily what's that smell?"

"I was just making eggs, OH SHIT!" Emily exclaimed as she ran in to the kitchen. She had totally forgot about breakfast.

Derek had followed her in. They both were staring at a small blaze on the element. Emily could see her charred eggs sitting in the ruined pan.

Luckily Derek had a fire extinguisher near by and was able to put out the flames before it could cause too much damage.

When they had finally come down from their little adrenaline adventure, Emily spoke, "Derek, I'm sorry. So much for a thank you breakfast." The second part of her statement had been whispered but Derek had still heard.

Derek could not stay mad at her, especially when she was ashamed, embarrassed and wearing pink fuzzy pyjamas. "As long as you are staying here," he began, "You are not allowed in the kitchen."

Both agents couldn't help but smile at this rule.

xXxXxXx

8:26 p.m.

The rest of the day went off without any problems for Emily. They had to order Chinese because the kitchen was unusable, and Emily mostly did her paper work and read. She did mange to get a paper cut, but worse things had already happened.

As they finished up the last of the files, Derek brought up the question that Emily wasn't sure she wanted to answer, "Hey Em. Are you planning on staying here or should we get you a hotel?"

"I don't want to intrude, but I would rather stay. Unless you don't want me here, then I could go to a hotel, or I could just get an apartment. I could always live in my car or at the BAU. Or you know set up a tent in JJ's back yard-"

"Em you are rambling," Derek said with a smirk. She was sometimes too cute. "I want you to stay here Princess, so if you are good with that, so am I."

They both shared a smile, because neither of them wanted her to go.

Emily was surprised he had wanted her to stay, after she could have potentially burned his house down. It just went to show that Derek Morgan really was a good guy.

Emily looked down to sign off on the last file, and hoped that her bad luck would end with the weekend, but really what you want never seems to matter.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm baaackkk! Okay, first off sorry for the long delay between updates, I was in Europe on a school trip and then I had to catch up on work as soon as I got back. Now I finally have time to write again, woooo!

Anyway, this is going to be the case part of the story now. I have never written a case before, or thought of one for that matter, so if you could bear with me. Also any encouragement or ideas for the case would be greatly appreciated.

Now here's chapter 6, enjoy!

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><p>Monday, April 9th - 7:20 a.m.<p>

Monday morning came around like Saturday and Sunday with Derek's arm wrapped protectively around Emily. Emily and Derek had slept in his bed again, but at least this morning they had avoided all awkwardness and were just content to stay cuddled together. The kiss that had tormented Emily the previous day had not been mentioned again.

The two had decided to carpool to work in Derek's car because Emily's was still full of her belongings. Once they had parked, they headed up the elevator to the BAU. They would probably have a case.

As soon as Derek pulled the glass doors of the BAU open for Emily, the pair was met with a bubbly bond. She was clad in more colours than the rainbow, but it seemed that she could pull it off.

"Em, you are late and Derek- my chocolaty treat are extremely early," Garcia commented as a way of welcoming them.

"It's her fault," Derek whined, "_Ms. We Need To Be On Time Or Else_ woke me up. Something about her internal clock told her we would be late."

Emily couldn't help but smile at his childish behaviour, "I was right we are late!"

"Wait!" A new voice exclaimed, it was JJ, "You guys came together?"

"Even better, you are sleeping together?" Garcia gushed.

"NO!" Emily countered, then began to blush at the looks of the blondes, "My apartment is flooded, so I am staying at Derek's."

"I caught her trying to camp at the BAU, because no one wanted her to stay with them," Derek teased, "So I took her in."

Garcia and JJ could not prevent the Cheshire cat like grins that spread on their faces. Just the thought of their best friend finally finding someone, although it was Morgan which made them giggle, put a smile on their faces. JJ had once tried to ask Emily if she liked the muscular agent, but Emily had said no, and it would never happen.

"Just keep your hands to yourself!" Garcia joked with a wink as she walked past the two, who were both in their own states of shock. JJ couldn't contain her laughter as she walked by.

Emily immediately blushed, but was able to cool her features by the time she reached her desk. Derek had blushed as well, but he was glad no one would be able to call him out on it.

The two settled in their respective seats and began to work on a few remaining files. They had managed to finish the ones from the past case over the weekend, but that did not mean that the files from a couple cases back were completed.

Emily worked through her lunch, and Derek headed out with Reid. It seemed they were both set on ignoring each other after Garcia's last comment.

xXxXxXx

6:28 p.m.

It was just about time to pack up, and Emily was signing off on the last remaining case files, when Garcia walked in to the Bull Pen. "Don't go anywhere yet guys, we may have a case."

Emily sighed; she had just worked her ass off finishing up the files and wanted nothing more than to curl up under a blanket and read. Well it would be nice if she could curl up with Derek, she though as she amended her fantasy. With her luck they would be flying out tonight.

Just as Emily thought that, Hotch walked out of his office, "Conference Room in 5, we have a case."

Emily got up and headed to the conference room with JJ at her side. Reid went to the break room to fill up his coffee mug and he was followed closely behind by Derek who was on the same mission.

Derek took a seat next to Emily, and Garcia could not contain her glee, as her two favourite bad ass agents subconsciously moved their chairs closer together. So she decided to ask, "You two are BFF's and Room Mates?"

"Don't worry Baby Girl, you will always be my best friend," Derek stated with a wink. That had Emily feeling jealous even though she knew it was completely platonic between the two.

Rossi met Hotch on his way into the room, and that was when the Agents mask came on because it was time to get down to work.

Hotch began to address the members of his team, as every one pulled out their IPad's.

"The bodies of 5 young children have been found around the outskirts of Twin Falls, Idaho. The ages of the victims range from approximately 6 months to close to 4 years old." Hotch began.

The images of the young children's bodies flashed across the screens of the IPad's. The children were in soiled clothing, hair unkempt, no shoes. They looked like they had been thrown on the side of the road like pieces of trash.

"This Unsub does not care for the kids at all," JJ offered, "And there is a large age gap and a mix of boys and girls. Is there a sexual component?"

"None-" began Hotch before he was cut off by Gacia.

"Umm, sir?" She began as her fingers were flying a mile per hour over the keyboard, "There are no records of children missing."

"You won't find them Garcia," Hotch said, 'There are no records for any of these children, we don't even have names. All we know, from DNA fingerprinting, is that these are children of missing woman."

The images of 5 missing women from all over Idaho showed up on the screen, they all had caramel brown hair, and fair complexions. All women were in their thirties at the time of dissaperance.

"Well we know he has a type," Emily stated, "The children of a certain type of woman."

Reid suddenly piped up, "All these woman were presumed dead… since some have been missing for over 6 years."

"So why is this our case," Morgan asked, "shouldn't it be Missing Persons because they know that the women are still out there?"

"It's ours because all the children have the same father." Rossi answered solemnly.

xXxXxXx

8:55 p.m.

While on the jet, the team began to compromise what they knew.

"So we can say that this guy somehow takes these women, and then tries to create a family?" Morgan contemplated.

"It would look that way," Reid began, "but if he wanted to play family the children would most likely be alive, or at least when he tried to dispose of the bodies he would do so in a way that displayed remorse. Such as burial, clean clothes, arms over chest, and so on."

"How were the children…killed?" JJ asked.

Rossi looked through the pages he had displayed in front of him, "There was a few methods, dehydration for the second and latest victim and malnutrition for victims three and four. The first victim was the infant, and he suffered from a broken neck."

"He obviously is not fit to be father," Hotch put in, "the infant was so young that it is possible…"

Prentiss picked up, "he didn't know what to do with a baby. Maybe shook him and broke the neck. Even with the other children there are obvious signs of neglect."

"So the children's deaths are accidental," Morgan joined in, "This guy has no attachment to them, it is just the mothers. The children just disposed of on the sides of the road, no remorse."

"This means he either still has the mothers, or we are looking at more victims," JJ reasoned.

The team nodded in agreement.

"So that's where we will start when we land, with the mothers." Hotch said. "Dave and I will go and speak to the families of the missing women to see if there are any similarities. Reid, you and JJ will head to the precinct and get set up. Start on a geological profile of the missing women and in relation to the children's body. Also if you two can, get all the information of the women from Garcia and start on victimology. Morgan and Prentiss, you will go to the crime scene, see if you can get anything from the placement of the bodies.

The team all voiced their agreements.

"Everyone get some rest so we can hit the ground running," Hotch ended his set of instructions as the team laid back for the remainder of their journey.


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: A huge thank you **lovelover7891**, **vampiresrockroza**, and **ayanamonique** who reviewed chapter six. I really appreciate hearing fom you guys, the reviews mean so much to me.

Also I go by first names, Emily and Derek, when they are having a personal conversation, then its back to Prentiss and Morgan when on the case. So if the names flip back and forth between first and last that's the reason. I am trying my best to write this case, so I hope that it makes sense. If you know of any ways I could improve it, help is wanted. And as always let me know what you think, but only if you want to.

I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

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><p>Monday, April 9th – 10:47 p.m.<p>

The team arrived at the local precinct in Twin Falls, Idaho late that night. They had decided to save the actual profiling until tomorrow and tonight would be catching themselves up with the local PD.

After brief introductions with the man they would be working closely with, Sheriff Boyd, the team began to listen to the evidence that he had collected. It turns out that this city was not prepared for a serial killer of this magnitude. The BAU would be starting from scratch.

Hotch sent them back to the hotel when the hour was approaching midnight. "We will meet in the hotel lobby at 6:30 tomorrow morning," with that the team headed to the borrowed SUV's so they could head to the hotel for the night.

xXxXxXx

Tuesday, April 10th – 7:00 a.m.

Each member of the team went to their assigned locations, from the previous night. JJ and Reid set up at the precinct, and connected up to Garcia back at Quantico. JJ and Garcia worked on victimology, gathering information of the mothers of the children that had been found. They also looked up other possible victims. Reid was working away on the geographical profile. Hotch and Rossi went to speak to the victim's families to try to find any similarities. They were in constant communication with JJ and Garcia so that they could create a consensus on the victimology. Morgan and Prentiss went to the last preserved crime scene, when the latest body was found.

It was raining by the time the two agents made it to the crime scene, and it was rather slippery. A few of the local authorities, including Sheriff Boyd had accompanied them. The body had been moved to the morgue, but there was still Crime Scene personnel on site. Morgan and Prentiss walked the area.

"So he drives the bodies out to areas outside of the city, since he has covered the circumference of the city, he is probably from here. Rather than outside the city," Derek stated.

The pair headed down the steep bank to the ditch on the side of the highway where the body was found. As Prentiss stepped down, she began to lose her footing. She slipped, and the brunette made her way down the bank on her back. Morgan had tried to move to catch her, but wasn't fast enough as he watch her slide to the bottom of the ditch. He quickly made his way down to help her up.

When Derek reached Emily, she was laying in a puddle. She groaned as she tried to sit up, and exclaimed, "Are you serious?"

Derek laughed as he looked as his friend sitting there covered in mud once again. "So I guess your earlier fall wasn't Clooney's fault."

Emily rolled her eyes as Derek continued, "You end up in these situations on your own!"

Just as Derek extended his had to help her up, Sheriff Boyd entered their secluded conversation and joined in. Sheriff Boyd was a man about Hotch's age; he was as big and strong as Derek with kind eyes. "Are you alright ma'am?" He asked Emily, his voice full of concern. He had pushed away Derek's hand and helped the fallen agent up.

"Yeah I'm good," Emily said as she tried to brush of the mud that covered her clothing. She realized that her attempts proved futile.

Derek let out a small growl, as he watch the Sheriff check over Emily. The Sheriff's hands were covering her arms. Derek had to restrain the jealousy that was raging inside of him. "She's fine!" Morgan snapped, and grabbed Emily away.

Emily threw an apologetic smile over her shoulder to the astounded Sheriff and she and Derek made their way to where the body had been located.

"What the hell was that about?" She hissed when they were finally out the Sheriff's earshot.

"Nothing," He mumbled. "We just have a job to do. We are not here to flirt." He spat out.

"Flirt?" She asked. Emily shook her head and walked away, pulling her profiling mask on as she entered the taped off scene.

Derek cursed and followed her.

The pair ignored what had just transpired, working together like colleagues. Their friendship would need some working out though.

They looked over the crime scene with minimal complaints from Prentiss on the basis of 'a wet and cold ass'. She couldn't believe that she had ended up covered in mud again. What was up with all of her bad luck?

"There isn't much else we can get from here," Morgan offered.

Prentiss agreed, "Probably not, let's head back to meet up with the team."

When they sat down in the SUV, Derek turned to face her, "Hey," he spoke softly, "I'm sorry for accusing you…"

"It's okay," Emily smiled, she had already forgiven him. "What's it to you any way?"

"I just didn't like that he had his hand all over you. So I had to protect you."

Emily blushed, "It's fine-"

Derek cut her off, "He just wasn't – wait? We're good?"

Emily smiled and shook her head, "Yeah, we're good."

As Derek began to drive Emily tried to situate herself in a way that would prevent the mud on her clothing from getting all over the seat. She needed to get changed because she was cold, wet and muddy. This really wasn't her week.

xXxXxXx

12:43 p.m.

As Derek and Emily walked in to the precinct, JJ approached the two agents, "What happened, Em?"

The brunette agent looked down at her mud stained clothes and replied with a shrug, "Derek pushed me." Then she headed to the bathroom, with a change of clothes in hand that they had picked up on their way back from the crime scene.

Derek stood there with an opened mouth watching Emily walk away, JJ too, was shocked. Emily had a smirk on her face when she quickly glanced back. She saw JJ smacking Derek in the arm, probably scolding him for 'pushing her'.

A few minutes later the team was gathered in the small room the locals had given them. Reid, JJ and Rossi were sitting around the little table, Prentiss, Morgan and Hotch standing behind. They all looked intently at Morgan's phone in the middle of the table, and listen to Garcia, "Hello my lovelies! I was looking into similar cases and found that there were 2 bodies found in similar conditions in Kimberly, Idaho. There was one more found in Filer, Idaho as well. That was about 2 years ago in Kimberly and just last year in Filer."

"Thanks, mama," Derek replied as Garcia hung up on the speaker phone.

"That makes the body count 8," Emily stated.

Before the team could further process the information a young officer ran into the room, "Agents we have another body, well a- we- a," he stuttered under the scrutiny of the powerful BAU, "We have two bodies. A mother and a-a child by the looks of it…"

Immediately the team was on their feet and ready to go. Hotch spoke up, "Dave stay here, look into the other possible victims and see if you can get more from Garcia."

Another young Officer interrupted with a file and handed it to Hotch.

"Okay, JJ and Reid. The mother has been identifies as Alyssa Cote, go and speak to her family. She has been missing for 4 years, tread lightly. Prentiss, Morgan and I will head to the scene.

xXxXxXx

2:07 p.m.

Hotch, Prentiss and Morgan entered the scene. "This one is different than the others," she stated upon arrival.

The two bodies were located on the side of the road, in the ditch like the other murders. Only this time the woman was there, not just a child. The female victim had been laid down gently, hair brushed from her face. She had been stabbed in the neck, but the blood had been cleaned from the wound once she had died. If they didn't know better, she could have been peacefully sleeping. Next to her laid what they assumed to be her child. The young boy was thrown haphazardly like the other children- no signs of remorse.

"He is obviously escalating. Something has tipped him off. This is his second dump this week; others were months apart, one even years," Prentiss brought up.

Derek continued, "Well at least we know for certain that is the woman that he targets. He has no emotional attachment to the children."

Hotch nodded and took a closer look at the bodies. He asked the ME to turn the child over. "Morgan, Prentiss, look at this."

The boy had been stabbed in the stomach; it appeared to be a horrid wound.

The ME spoke up, "It looks like he bleed out."

"Well that's different," Prentiss muttered.

"So do you think he's reached his breaking point and that is why he had begun to dump the women?" Derek asked.

"It would appear so," Hotch sighed. "We need to find what caused this guy to break."

Prentiss looked around; this case was turning out to be an ugly one. The agents continued to pace the scene, cataloguing each detail to ensure they could catch this bastard.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Here is chapter 8! I pretty much have the whole thing written. I just need to type it up, so hopefully I can be finished before the month of April is over. I'm going to point out that this is my largest chapter yet, it is over 2,000 words, go me! Not that that little useless fact really matters…

ANyway, I would also like to thank those who review, you guys keep me writing. If you didn't review I would have probably lost interest already. So a big thank you to **lovelover7891**, **vampiresrockroza**, **ayanamonique**, and** Fluffy Muffin**!

I hope you like it, and feel free to leave a review! :)

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><p>Tuesday, April 10th – 5:59 p.m.<p>

The team once again met up at the precinct to discuss their findings.

"The family of Alyssa Cote gave the same story," JJ started, "a good woman. She had no reason to run away, had no enemies. She was just a nice, kind person."

"So, all these women have been the same. They look the same too, late twenties to early thirties. We should get Garcia looking more into that," Morgan offered.

"The children are collateral damage," Prentiss added. "We only have one woman's body. He could hold on to them because they mean more."

"How do you even know it's the same guy?" Sheriff Boyd asked.

"The probability of having two serial killers actively working within this small of a population area is practically negligible. Although there are the scenarios when-"

"Reid." Emily said gently, touching his arm to end the young mans ramblings.

"Sorry," he blushed.

"We know it is the same Unsub because the children are left in the same condition. The woman also is his type; she has similarities to the missing women who are the mother's to the victims," Rossi explained to the man.

"So we are positive that the woman victim and child are mother and son, could you pick up the ME's report?" Hotch told, more so than asked the Sheriff.

"I think it would be a good time to get some food," JJ offered.

"I agree," Hotch said, "let's head to that little diner across the street so we can be back here in half an hour."

As soon as they returned from the dinner, they began looking through the records that the PD had, to see if anyone fit the starting of their profile.

"We know he idolizes these women, so either a mother, wife, sister, girlfriend. Someone he lost," Derek was thinking out loud as he picked up another file.

xXxXxXx

9:33 p.m.

The team had been working for 3 hours when Morgan's phone rang. It was a needed break from the never ending pile of files.

"Talk to me Baby Girl," he answered.

She welcomed him warmly, "Hey Cupcake."

"You're on speaker phone, Garcia," Hotch interrupted their friendly flirting.

"Hello, my Super Heroes! And I am sorry to say that I've had no luck so far connecting the women, or fitting one that could have been a trigger."

"That's alright Sweetness," Derek comforted his friend over the phone.

"Okay, Sorry. I will keep working on th…. Wait! Guys could you stay on the line for a minute?"

"No problem Garcia," JJ stepped in.

"How…What?" The team could here Garcia muttering over the line. There was also the distinct sound of a keyboard typing had high speed. It was obvious to all of them that she was on to something.

"How could I have missed this?"

"Don't worry Penelope. Stick with me and you'll never miss anything," Derek flirted with his friend.

"Thank you my gorgeous man. Alrighty, I just realised that all the bodies have been dumped around the same time," She stated.

"Go on, Penelope," Reid encouraged as he went to stand in front of the board the team had set up. He began to write dates beneath each picture as Garcia continued to talk.

"The first body, from 6 years ago, found on April 10th, 2007, but it had been there for 2 days. The second and third body were both dumped and found on April 10th 2008 and 2009. The fourth body April 10th, 2010 in Kimberly and then the 5th was April 11th in Filer. Then last year one in Kimberly on the 10th and one in Twin Falls on the 11th. This year, we had one on the 9th of April, 2 on the 10th."

"Wow," JJ was shocked that no one had caught the pattern.

"April 10th is a stressor for him," Reid pointed out, "Dates often have sentimental value for people. The same seems to be for the Unsub."

"So he progressed, from dumping one body a year for three years, to two bodies the next and then this year he is already at three bodies," Rossi stated.

"He always dumps on the 10th and lately the 11th as well, so we should expect another body tomorrow," Prentiss spectacled, joining the conversation for the first time. She had remained relatively quiet until this point. JJ looked up and her friend noticing the change in her demenor.

"Good job on that, Mama," Derek congratulated Garcia.

"Thank you my chocolaty god."

"Garcia, can you now look into divorce records, or deaths on April 10th. It will have occurred the year before he started killing, so 2006," Hotch asked.

"Will do Boss," Garcia nodded her head even though her co-workers couldn't see her, "Garcia over and out!"

"Hotch?" Prentiss asked, "The first victim was 6 months old. So going back 6 months, then 10 more for gestation, that means the first woman was abducted over 16 months ago. That would make another anniversary in December or January. He had to abduct her for a reason."

"That makes sense; the stressor could have come then, in December." Hotch agreed.

Reid finally moved away from the board, "I agree with Emily. Something along the lines of a breakup, death, or divorce occurred in December. Then April signifies a reminder of this traumatic event."

Hotch looked at his watch, it was currently passed ten. "Let's head to the hotel and call it a night. Everyone get some rest and we will present the profile tomorrow. Morgan call Garcia back and let her know Prentiss' conclusion on the dates. Get her to factor it in to her search."

"Okay, let's go. I'm too old to stand around," Rossi added to get the team moving to the SUV's.

xXxXxXx

10:48 p.m.

Emily intentionally went to the opposite SUV as Derek and JJ followed her.

"Are you alright?" JJ asked quietly. She knew that Rossi would not listen to their conversation, or at least he wouldn't repeat it. JJ hoped Emily would answer because she was worried with the change in Emily's behaviour.

"Yeah, I just realized something and it threw me off for a moment…"

"But it's not about the case is it?" JJ question.

"It sucks that you're a profiler now!" Emily huffed.

"Does it have anything to do with Derek?"

"Seriously, Jayje. Get out of my head."

"I knew it!" JJ cheered. Then she saw Emily's face. "Don't worry I wont tell anyone."

"Thanks."

The two remained silent for the rest of the ride having come to an understandin and from the sheer exhaustion of the case.

The team made it back to their scruffy hotel on the out skirts of Twin Falls. As soon as they entered the door everyone split off to their own rooms to sleep.

As Emily went to follow the other members of the BAU up the stairs, Derek reached out his arm to stop her.

"Hey, what's up with you?" He asked his voice laced with concern. "You've been really quiet."

"I'm fine," Emily brushed off his attempts to console her and made her way to her room.

"Alright…" He called after her, even more worried after their talk.

Emily continued her way up the stairs and to her hotel room. She was glad that Derek did not push the subject any further. She couldn't tell him that he was the problem.

She knew that when Garcia called to talk to Derek their flirting was harmless, but for some reason Emily felt the pang of jealously. Garcia was only his friend, but no matter the amount of time Emily repeated it to herself she still couldn't erase the words from her mind.

She wanted Derek to be hers, but she was losing him to Garcia before she even had a chance. And that just sucked!

Emily showered and was ready for bed, but the whole time she just kept thinking about Derek and Penelope's relationship. Penelope was her friend, but for somereason at the moment seemed to be a rival.

Suddenly her phone vibrated, and the light lit up her darkened room. The message was from Derek, "**Hey…**"

Emily picked up her phone and replied, "**Why are you texting me, shouldn't you be texting your BABY GIRL?**" She knew it was a bitch move, but after the time she had been spending with Derek she felt possessive of him. He had been territorial of her with Sheriff Boyd today as well so it was just her was of expressing she cared.

"**Garcia? No. I wanted to talk to you**."

Emily couldn't help but smile at his message, maybe she over reacted. As she settled down in her bed to send the message, she noticed that she felt lonely. She missed his presence.

She got up and saw that Derek had sent her another message, "**Did you fall asleep on me?**"

Emily smiled again, and left her room. She slipped into the hallway and discreetly made her way to Derek's room. Emily knocked three times on his door. Since the hotel was older, she could hear the springs of his bed squeak as he got up and walked to the door.

Derek pulled open the door and Emily couldn't contain another smile. It seemed that he always brought a grin to her face. "Hey," She was suddenly nervous. Why was she here, "I, um, you wanted to talk?" She hopefully asked.

"Yeah I did," he laughed, "But I didn't expect you to show up here."

"Sorry," she sighed, "I will just go back to room and I will see you bright and early tomorrow." Then she started to walk away.

"No!" He practically yelled, "Come on in."

The two sat oh his bed and chatted like they had all the nights before at his house. It just felt right the two of them spending time together. They were both relaxed, with work not in the front of their minds, although it was there because this case was already pacing out to be a tough one.

"Derek?" She asked.

"Yeah, Princess?" She loved when he used that nickname. It was hers alone, he never called Garcia Princess.

"Can I stay here tonight?" She wondered she snuggled in to his body as she said the words.

Derek smile, "You want to sleep with me?" He questioned while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Is that all you think about? And I would like to continue the sleeping arrangement we had before."

"I was hoping you would ask," was Derek's reply.

Eventually the exhaustion of the day caught up to them and they laid down in Derek's small bed. He wrapped his arms around his favourite brunette. She sighed, completely at peace with his warm body surrounding hers.

"Good night Princess," Derek pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Night," She mumbled with sleep already over taking her. All she could think about was that she could stay here forever. They would need to talk when they got back to Quantico because their relationship was moving past friends, very quickly and neither had discussed it at all.

Just before sleep took her, she heard Derek's voice, "I love you, Em."

Emily smiled, they would really need to talk.

* * *

><p>AN: Whats going to happen in the morning? Will they get caught?


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: Another larger Chapter, I am on a roll. There should only be about three or four more. Depending how I break it up.

Also I would like to thank **lovelover7891**,**vampiresrockroza**,**Nix 1978**,**kendra185**,**gchan.s2**,**BulletStrong**, and**ayanamonique** for reviewing the last chapter. You guys rock!

As always reviews are welcomed ands appreciated!

* * *

><p>Wednesday, April 11th – 6:14 a.m.<p>

Derek woke up and it felt like the previous mornings at his house. Emily was tucked in beside his body. It felt right to hold her, like they were two parts of a puzzle perfectly matched. The other woman Derek had held never fit as well as Emily.

Emily then woke as well. She was snuggled in to Derek, she sighed as he pulled her closer, now that they both were awake.

"Shit!" Emily gasped, "I need to get ready to meet the team." With that she jumped out of the bed and threw open Derek's door. Emily looked both ways down the hallway and was thankful that there was no one out there.

As she closed Derek's room door, she tip toed down the hall.

"And just where are you sneaking back from?"

Emily cursed, and turned around to see Dave Rossi smirking at her.

"I, ah, lost my room key…" Emily trailed off.

"How? You are still in your pyjamas?"

"Yes, Dave I lost it!"

"Sure, sure. So who's the lucky guy?"

"I'll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes," Emily rolled her eyes at the profiler. She quickly turned her back on the man so he could not read in anymore to her denial.

Emily then opened her room door, and before she could shut it she heard Dave speak, "I thought you lost your room key!"

Emily groaned. She knew that someone would notice she was spending more time with Derek; the only good thing was that Dave didn't know whose room she had been in.

Emily quickly dressed and joined the team in the hotel lobby. She was a few minutes late, and everyone was looking at her.

"Did you go back for a quickie with mystery man?" Dave asked with a straight face, but a hint of mischief in his eyes. Emily couldn't help the blush that crept up on her cheeks after Dave's question. This caused the team to look further into her behaviour.

Spencer looked confused and Hotch slightly annoyed- he was uninterested in his employee's personal lives, because he felt he should not be involved. Dave was still smiling, JJ looked like she too had caught on to Emily and Derek's late night meeting and Derek had a large grin on his face.

"So, Princess, having a little fun last night were you?" Derek asked just to spit her.

"Yeah, right!" Emily replied.

"Okay, let's quit the questioning and head to the precinct," Hotch insisted.

Emily was glad that he stepped in to save her form further embarrassment.

xXxXxXx

7:23 a.m.

The team gathered in the precinct with the local PD. It was time to give the profile.

Hotch began addressing the local officers of Twin Falls, "We are looking for a white male between the ages of 35 and 45."

"He lives around this area, since it is made up of smaller towns around here; he probably has a home in the country and frequents the cities for food and supplies. He would blend in to the surroundings," Reid continues.

"This man locates his female victims based on appearances. He has a type, light hair, fair complexion. He approaches the woman, seemingly harmless and takes them back to his home," Morgan stated.

Prentiss stepped in seamlessly, "We believe that these women represent someone, a girlfriend, wife, a loved one that he lost or that left him. We have technical analyst looking into any woman that would fit his type."

"He has a vehicle, dark, non-descriptive. It's unnoticeable," JJ suggested, "He is able to subdue these women, take them back with him and then he rapes them."

"We feel he is trying to replicate the idea of family. He lost someone who, looked like these woman and he wants her back. So he is taking it out on these substitutes," Rossi continued with the profile, "he fathers children with these women."

"This man is an incompetent caregiver. So when the children die of neglect he disposes of them," Hotch stepped in.

Suddenly Prentiss realized something, "He blames the children for this wife or girlfriend leaving. She packed up, took the child with her and probably said it was for the child's safety. He hates the children."

The team realized where she was going with her point. The children took the focus of the punishment.

"He has only disposed of children bodies, so the women may be alive, or the bodies are still with him," Morgan pointed out.

"We will need you to canvas the area, interviewing people related, or those who could have possibly been the trigger woman for him," Rossi added.

Finally Hotch concluded, "Hit the streets and return with you findings, thank you."

xXxXxXx

24:36 p.m.

The team had gone out on interviews, looked in to any possible leads Garcia could come up with, but they had still found nothing.

Morgan's phone rang, "Hey Baby Girl," he answered.

Emily's head shot up at his tone, but she smiled to herself. There would be no more over reacting. Garcia was their friend. And on the plus side it was her who was spending the evening with Derek, not Garcia. She realsized she reacted over nothing.

"Okay, okay. Here Mama, let me put you on speaker phone," Morgan continued.

"Hey my Lovelies, I've been referencing everything you've given me and I've got names."

"Lay them on us, Girl."

"Alright, I have three possible names. The first name, Thomas Floyd is unlikely, but has priors. Toni Chiappeta, more likely, spent a few years in jail. He had a girlfriend who broke up with him who looks very similar to the victims. And the third name, Liam Duncan, there is not much on him only a divorce record." She then continued, "Keep save my angels!"

"Thanks Garcia," the team said, as Morgan hung up.

"Okay," Hotch began, "JJ and I will go to Thomas Floyd's, Rossi and Prentiss to Toni Chiappeta's , and Morgan and Reid to Liam Duncan's."

The team split off to their assigned missions.

xXxXxXx

4:31 p.m.

JJ and Hotch were greeted at the door of a small apartment by a scum bag, Thomas Floyd. They both knew the minute that they entered his untidy home that was filled to the brim with trash that he was not their Unsub.

The two still took time to talk to the man, "We are Agent Hotchner and Jareau from the FBI," JJ began, "Could we ask you a few questions?"

Floyd panicked and claimed that he didn't mean to steal the DVD's from the movie rental store and then the man began to cry.

Hotch and JJ looked at each other and quickly excused themselves. They headed back to the precinct hoping that the others had better luck.

xXxXxXx

4:54 p.m.

Prentiss and Rossi headed to their location, small bungalow house belonging to Toni Chiappeta. They knocked on the door of the house, and Rossi went around to peer into the window.

"It appears empty," Rossi stated.

Prentiss pulled out her phone and began to dial Garcia's number. "Hey Garcia, is there any other addresses for Toni Chiappeta?"

"One minute, Sweet Pea."

Emily heard the keyboard typing in the background.

"Em, I'm sorry I made you guys go out there. It appears he moved away just over one year ago."

"Why?"

"Job offer, he went to Seattle." He was not their Unsub.

"Okay, thanks."

Rossi had just returned from the neighbour's door, repeating the same story that Prentiss had just heard.

Rossi and Prentiss also returned to the precinct to join up with Hotch and JJ.

xXxXxXx

5:32 p.m.

Morgan and Reid approached the secluded farm house, which fit into their profile. They knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

"This definitely looks like this could be our guy. Look where he lives," Reid said.

Morgan looked around the yard and had to agree with Reid.

The men had no choice but to head back to the precinct, hopefully they could gain some information on Liam Duncan.

When they all were able to meet up again Garcia called back with more new.

"Hello My Profilers," She stared, "I was able to speak to Liam Duncan's ex-wife. She has agreed to come in and speak to you tomorrow. She recently moved back into the area. She also said that when they divorced 6 years she left and took their three year old daughter with her."

"Thanks, Garcia."

"That fits into the profile as well." Rossi said.

"This is most likely our guy," Reid agreed.

Hotch ended the idle chit-chat, "We just need to find a way to stop him."

xXxXxXx

9:00 p.m.

Sheriff Boyd entered the Profiler's makeshift conference room. "We are switching out shifts."

"Hotch nodded in agreement, "Reid, JJ, and I will present the profile to the next shift."

They all nodded in agreement.

Dave sat in the room with Emily and Derek; he just kept looking between the two with a smile in his face."

"So, how long have you two been sneaking into each other's room?"

Emily was shocked he just came out and asked. Derek noticing that Emily was in no state to respond answered, "Las night was the first time."

Emily smacked him, and then hissed, "Why are you telling him?"

"They were bound to find out," Derek relented.

Dave laughed at their antics, "Don't worry I won't tell, but you need to be more discreet."

"Tell what?" Emily asked, suddenly nervous that Rossi had caught on.

"About your relationship," Dave stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Derek smiled thinking that was exactly what he wanted, a relationship with Emily. His thoughts were thrown out the window when she replied, "We are not in a relationship!" She stomped out of the room leaving two concerned agents behind.

Emily made it to the bathroom before she buried her head in her hands. This is just what she wanted to avoid. Yes she liked Derek, but if and when the team found out, she wanted them to actually be in a relationship. With the team knowing of their attraction it would make any option of dating awkward and difficult because of the Bureau's rules.

Emily heard a knock on the door, she knew that knock. When the knocking became more persistent ant, and it was obvious they weren't leaving without answers, Emily opened the door.

"What's up with you?" Derek asked.

"Nothing," Emily lied.

"Seriously Em, please tell me."

"You are my problem,' she stated after a few moments of silence.

"What?"

"Can we please have this conversation, somewhere other than a bathroom?"

"Fine, back at the hotel!" He said, leaving no leeway. With that he left the room. She had really screwed up. She just always seemed to ruin everything good that happened to her, she was full of bad luck.

When Emily returned the team was packing up. "There is not much else we can do until we talk to the ex-wife. We will head back to the hotel," Hotch said. With that the team left to get some sleep so they could get some sleep because the next few days were going to be hell. They needed to find their Unsub.

xXxXxXx

11:15 p.m.

Emily was sitting in her room; she hasn't talked to Derek yet and was not looking forward to it.

There came a knock on her door, it was now or never.

"Open up Emily!" With that she pulled open the door and Derek entered, "What they hell is going on with you?"

"You want to know?" She asked taunting him, "I don't want people knowing about us."

He laughed, a cutting sound, "That's funny because there is no _us_."

"What if I wanted there to be?" She mumbled in return.

Derek's whole demeanour shifted, "Really?"

"Yes."

"That's what I want too Princess," with that he pulled her into his arms. A conflicted was avoided and they had finally come to an understanding. They knew that they both wanted each other and further avoidance of the topic would only create tension amongst the team. This way they could find a way to be together.

"Sleep here?" she asked.

"There is no place else I'd rather be."


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: I got this one up much sooner than I expected. Hopefully it will tie you over until the next one. Once again I would like to thank those who reviewed **Lenika08** and **PrentissisBoss**. And a big thank you to **lovelover7891**, who has reviewed a lot of the chapters, this one is for you!

Enjoy! :)

* * *

><p>Thursday, April 12th – 5:55 a.m.<p>

Derek and Emily awoke early than normal, so that Derek would have a chance to return to his room without being caught. Before he left, Derek turned to face Emily, "I think we should do this again sometimes."

"Why not, my schedule looks free," she replied with a flirtatious smirk.

Next thing Emily knew, Derek was leaned in, and he pressed a light kiss to her lips, one that neither was expecting. Before she knew it he was gone, and it was time to get ready for the day.

She could hardly focus on getting changed because her lips continued to tingle where his had met hers for that brief second.

xXxXxXx

8:43 a.m.

The team sat around the table at the precinct. They were waiting for Liam Duncan's ex-wife to arrive; otherwise they had no other leads to exercise. They knew he was the Unsub, but they needed some more information for a warrant or to catch him in the act.

Sheriff Boyd entered the room, walked over to Prentiss' chair and put his hands on her shoulders, "We've discovered another body."

"Shit!" exclaimed Morgan. Angry that they were still behind this guy even though they knew who is.

"This soon?" Questioned Reid. This obviously meant the Unsub was escalating, with 4 victims this year. "That's strange. I wonder what has made this year such a crucial year. He went from 2 victims to 4 and one of those was a woman. This means that if he continues at this rate we could possible expect 8 bodies next year, two of which would be adult females. That would only occur if he was not apprehended this year, so…" Reid continued to ramble.

Sheriff Boyd interrupted him, "Yeah, well the victim is another child, a girl around 3 years old."

"It seems that the children are close in age to his daughter, when she left," Prentiss spoke up. For her contributing efforts Sheriff Boyd began to rub circles over her arms. Morgan tensed, Prentiss' eyes widened and the rest of the team scowled at the man.

"Other than the first victim, the infant, they were all his daughter's age," JJ spoke up.

"We agree on that," Hotch started, "Reid, Rossi and I, will check in at the crime scene. Prentiss and Morgan stay here to interview the mother, JJ interview the child if possible. Sheriff Boyd, will you accompany us to the crime scene?"

"I think I will be better off here at the station," stated.

Not wanting to contradict the local PD or upset the sheriff, Hotch merely nodded in reply and the team split up.

xXxXxXx

11:38 a.m.

Reid, Rossi, and Hotch all were at the precinct looking around at the crime scene, hoping to find anything that could possibly lead them to Liam Duncan.

The toddler's body was found sprawled over the ground much like the other victims; this had to be the same guy. The little girl was dirty and clothes were ripped and tattered. She was missing he left shoe, a purple and silver Barbie sneaker that her mother had probably talked the Unsub into buying.

The Agents continued to survey the scene, they would look around for an hour or so more and then make the long drive back to the precinct.

xXxXxXx

3:34 p.m.

Sheriff Boyd had followed Prentiss around all day, at least until she managed to send him on a false lead that forced him to look through every case file.

Liam Duncan's ex-wife entered the precinct. She calmly approached the BAU agents, with a girl about 10 years old following behind her.

Without any introductions, she asked, "What do you need to know about Liam?"

"Hello, Ms…?" Morgan began.

"Charles," the woman who matched the appearance of the missing woman, with caramel hair and a fair complexion replied, "I went back to maiden name after the divorce."

"Ms. Charles, I am Agent Prentiss," Emily greeted, "could you possible come with Agent Morgan and myself for a little questioning about your ex-husband?"

She nodded, "Of course, where can Katie stay for the time being?"

"I will watch her ma'am," JJ stepped up, "We will just get some hot chocolate from the break room, if that's all right?"

Ms. Charles nodded in return before she followed Morgan and Prentiss.

"Hi Katie, I'm JJ," she smiled at the girl.

"Hi," came an unenthusiastic reply.

JJ walked Katie into the break room, sat her down in a chair and got her some hot chocolate.

Before JJ had a chance to ask the girl anything, Katie spoke up, "Are we here because of my Dad?"

"Well we don't know yet for sure," JJ replied, "What can you tell me about him?"

"Mommy says that he was mean, that's why we had to leave," JJ nodded for Katie to continue, "I don't really remember him very well though."

"That's okay, anything else?"

"No," Katie sighed.

"That's aright, sweetie," JJ could obviously see that the young girl was distressed, so decided change the topic, "So what have you been up to lately?"

Katie smiled, "It was Mommy's birthday on April 10th! We had a party!"

JJ's eyes widened, she called over a female officer to watch Katie and headed to the interview room where Morgan and Prentiss had escorted Ms. Charles to.

JJ knocked on the door and Morgan opened it, she heard Ms. Charles discussing her years of marriage. It sounded awful, full of abuse.

Ms. Charles was just finishing up saying," I had to leave to protect Katie. Since I left him, Liam hated Katie, he blames her. And then once the divorce was finalized he severed all contact with the both of us."

"Morgan, her birthday is April 10th, that's the stressor," JJ whispered, with that she returned to Katie.

"Ms. Charles, when did you leave him? Prentiss asked.

"I think we split in July but the divorce was finalized at the end of December, six years ago."

"That fits with the abduction timeline," Morgan stated to Prentiss, "When is your birthday?" He asked the ex-wife.

"Umm, April 10th," Ms. Charles was wary to answer the strange questions.

"That's the anniversary," Prentiss realized.

"JJ just found that out," Morgan credited the blonde profiler.

"One last question, have you had any contact with him?"

"No, not since the divorce, but just this year Katie started to send him letters."

"Thank you Ms. Charles, you have greatly helped our investigation," Prentiss thanked the woman. "You and your daughter are free to go."

Morgan and Prentiss both knew that Katie sending letters to the Unsub had been the trigger to escalation. This caused the increase in victims.

"Will you let us know either way if it was Liam?" She asked.

Morgan replied, "We will."

xXxXxXx

6:16 p.m.

Once again the team met up. They all relayed their information in. JJ told them of the importance of April 10th and Reid gave an exact description of the crime scene to the agents who were not present.

"I think I have enough to hopefully get a warrant from the judge," Hotch stated, "But no one will be willing to put this one through fast. We will probably have to wait until tomorrow for it to be finalized."

"Hotch, seriously!" Morgan complained.

"I know," he sighed.

"Can we head over to his house to ask him some question?" Prentiss asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow we will, if the warrant isn't ready by 8."

The team began to pack up; they would eat and get to bed early so they could start the take down of Liam Duncan early tomorrow morning. Since there was nothing more that could be done tonight, legally that is.

Just as Emily rose out of her char, Sheriff Boyd approached her. The team all stopped their actions to see what was about to transpire.

"Excuse me Agent Emily?"

"Yes Sheriff, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you would join me for dinner…"

Emily didn't know what to say, it was not what she was expecting, "Thank you for the offer, but" She could not think of an excuse that would lead him away from her.

Hotch nudged Derek, and whispered, "I know you want to step in, I will look the other way for now. You two sort out your relationship, keep it away from the office and I will not say another word."

Hotch left, followed by a smirking JJ who was dragging a confused Spencer. That left Sherriff Boyd, who was still awaiting an answer, Emily, Derek and Dave in the room.

"Actually Sheriff, Emily has already promised me dinner tonight," Derek finally spoke up.

"Oh," The sheriff was obviously deflated, "What about tomorrow?"

"What I mean is that Emily and I have dinner plans set for the at least the next 30, maybe 40 years. Depending on how it all works out."

The sheriff finally caught on, nodded his head and left the room. He knew that he had been beaten.

"Derek! I'm a big girl I can handle myself," Emily joked, but her headstrong personality still came through because she believed she could handle her own problems. Although it was nice to have someone stand up for her, "And you could have been nicer about it."

"So what I'm a little territorial?"

"A little?" Dave snorted. The pair turned to look at Dave who was still in the room, playing witness to the day's events.

Emily turned red; embarrassed that Dave had caught them again. Now the whole team would learn of this little conflict.

"Hotch know too," Derek whispered to Emily. Great, just what she needed, JJ knew, Hotch knew and Dave most definitely knew. Garcia had a vague idea and Reid, he was just Reid.

Dave exited the room under their glare. This left Derek and Emily alone, finally!

"So you really mean it? I'm stuck with you?"

Derek suddenly became self conscious, "Only if you want..."

"Of course I do!" She replied as she began to leave the room, "You coming? I believe you owe me dinner."

* * *

><p>AN: Only two more parts to go! Almost there, and as always reviews are welcome :)


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. We have finally reached the part where the prologue comes into play. Anyway here's this chapter! And once again thank you to those who have reviewed the last chapter, **Lenika08**, **vampiresrockroza**, **lovelover7891**, **ayanamonique**!

I hope you like it! and reviews are always welcomed. :)

* * *

><p>Friday, April 13th - 8:11 a.m.<p>

"In America, 17 to 21 million people have been diagnosed with a fear of Friday the 13th. The fear is referred to as paraskevidekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia, both terms mean the fear of Friday and the number 13," Reid had sat in the conference nattering away with useless statistics as the team were sitting down around the table with their coffees, all waiting on the warrant.

Prentiss moved to stretch her tired legs out and in doing so; she knocked the table, spilling her coffee into her lap. Lucky for her it was not too hot. She stood up and sighed, this really was not her week.

"Someone's clumsy when tired," JJ joked, Emily reminded her of Henry sometimes.

"Again?" was all Morgan asked.

They were interrupted when Hotch, who had just left the room returned, "We have no warrant, it seems that we do not have enough on Liam Duncan."

"What?" Morgan asked enraged, as be banged his fist against the table, "Let's go to his house anyway."

"Hotch, there may be a way of catching this guy in the act," Rossi stated.

"Or at least we can talk to him," JJ added hopefully.

Prentiss had gotten up to change when Hotch sighed. When his team wanted something, well more specifically a killer, who was he to deny them, "Alright, let's go."

xXxXxXx

8:59 a.m.

They had packed themselves into two SUV's. They knew that they all did not have to be there, but if they did happen to find some incriminating evidence, everyone wanted to be there for the taken down of this bastard. Hotch, Rossi and JJ exited from the first one when they reached the isolated home, and Morgan, Prentiss and Reid from the second. Reid had spent the whole ride over listing all the irrational fears he knew.

The agents from the second SUV went to join the others, but not before Prentiss tripped. One minute she had been upright, the next she was at Morgan's feet.

"Seriously Princess, you need to stop doing that," Morgan said as he gave her a hand up.

"I guess it is not my day," Prentiss began, she saw Reid open his mouth, but she quickly cut him off, "It has nothing to do with Friday the 13th, this has been happening all week."

"Here comes Clumsy Prentiss again," Rossi joked, as he saw the brunette brushing herself off.

"I wasn't my fault, I tripped over a shoe!"

At her words the whole team turned to look at the shoe. It was a purple and silver Barbie sneaker that their latest victim had been missing.

Hotch spoke up, "Reid, the victim had her left shoe on, and it was children's size 2, right?"

"Yes," Reid said as he placed a glove on his hand and picked up the shoe, "It looks like a pair and size 2… There's blood on it."

"We need to get it to trace, immediately," Rossi stated seriously, now moving away from his jokes.

"There is a small blood drop trail leading up the front stairs over here," Prentiss called out once she recovered from her trip with only a scraped knee.

"And blood on the door handle," JJ added.

"Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"That seems like enough probable cause for me, get your Kevlar vest on, we're going in!"

xXxXxXx

9:23 a.m.

Morgan and Prentiss drew their guns as they were approaching the front door. Hotch and JJ were at the back door. Reid and Rossi were in the shed at the back of the isolated farm property. They knew Liam Duncan was their Unsub, but now they just needed to find if he had anymore victims.

"One, two, three!" Hotch spoke over the radio system.

"Liam Duncan, this is the FBI. We're coming in!" Prentiss yelled into the house as Morgan kicked in the door on Hotch's count. Hotch did the same thing to the back, and Rossi knocked the garage door in as well. The BAU took over Liam Duncan's home.

Prentiss and Morgan took half the main floor and the upstairs as planned, while Hotch and JJ took the rest, including the basement.

"Clear," Rang out Hotch's voice.

"We have another body," came Reid's over the radio, "she's already dead. This must be where he kept all the victims because there is a pile of blankets."

They were too late to save another victim, but it didn't mean that they still couldn't get the Unsub. JJ headed outside to join Rossi and Reid, while Hotch headed outside as well to organize the local authority. They both assumed that Morgan and Prentiss would be out of the house as soon as it was cleared, so the team could profiling it to see where else Duncan could be hiding.

Morgan and Prentiss were almost finished clearing the upper floor. There were two doors left, both on opposite sides of the hallway. Each agent took a door.

"Clear!" Morgan's roomed turned out to be nothing more than a closet, so he turned to follow Prentiss.

Prentiss entered the last reaming room the Unsub, Liam Duncan jumped her from behind. He had been crouched beside a small table, and was hidden from view. He knocked her gun away, grabbed her and pulled Prentiss to his chest, putting his gun to her temple. The team had thought that Duncan would not be home, so the shock of seeing the suspect had momentarily stilled Prentiss allowing Duncan to control her.

Duncan whispered in Prentiss' ear, "You move, you die."

Emily Prentiss had been in difficult situations before and her mind was working overtime to figure a way to get out. Duncan backed himself and Prentiss towards the window and he kept his gun on her the whole time.

Morgan busted though the door as soon as he did not hear Prentiss clear the area. As soon as his eyes sweep the room, he saw the predicament that she was in. Morgan trained his gun on the criminal.

"Duncan, release her!" Morgan yelled.

"No! I'm already going down for eleven murders, what's one more?" The disturbed young man asked.

"We can make a deal, if you put down your weapon," Morgan encouraged as he made eye contact with Prentiss.

Suddenly, Prentiss ducked as Morgan shot. Duncan was hit in the shoulder. He fell backwards towards the opened window and dragged Prentiss with him and they both fell to the ground.

Morgan watched in horror as his partner fell to the ground two stories below. He quickly turned around and headed outside to ensure the safety of his partner before she had even hit the earth.

There was a definite crack as Prentiss hit the gravel below her, landing on her side a split second before her head hit the ground causing her to black out.

xXxXxXx

9:29 a.m.

At the same time Morgan and Prentiss where approaching the stairs, Hotch and JJ headed to the garage to meet up with Rossi and Reid. As they searched inside they saw one of the missing women. She was on a desk, arms crossed in remorse, hair swept to the side. The desk seemed to be a miniature shrine to her. Although she too, from the look of it suffered from malnutrition, the Unsub had cleaned her. She appeared to be a more recent kill, probably the mother of the latest victim.

"Reid, check the back yard for any graves," Hotch asked. Duncan would have wanted to keep these women close, somewhere he could visit them. If you lived on a big property like this, the backyard would be a perfect place.

"You need to see this," Rossi stated. He opened a side door of the garage. It used to have 3 giant pad locks on it, but the keys had been hanging on the wall which made it an easy task to open the door from the outside. JJ and Hotch followed Rossi into the room that Duncan would have kept all the women and children in. It was large, dirty and cold, a place full of pain and terror. There were rag and blanket piles across the floor. These women and children would have had a horrible life in here.

Reid returned and entered the room, "There are 9 unmarked graves, and a freshly dug one for the latest victim. We only had 10 children victims."

"We had the mother and child dumped, so eleven mothers, ten children" JJ realized something was wrong.

Before she could continue her train of thought, it was interrupted by a whimper.

JJ bent down to see what was making the whining noise. From beneath the rags, she saw a young blonde girl. Only about 2 years of age, with silent tears running down her face. JJ picked up the infant, whispering soothing words to her. The young girl clinged to JJ and buried her tear stained face in her neck.

"There's the last child," Rossi whispered. The team's moment of triumph was halted when they heard a gun shot, a crash and Morgan yelling all in rapid succession.

Something bad had happened.

Everyone was shocked as Morgan called for help to contain the Unsub and an ambulance. The team rushed out, with JJ following slowly behind with the terrified child.

As soon as they made it out of the room, Reid called the ambulance, Hotch and Rossi went help Morgan to arrest the Unsub. Duncan was moaning in pain due to do the shot, but Rossi and Hotch took no mercy on him as they cuffed him. When Morgan realized that he was no longer needed there, he moved to Emily. He cradled her unconscious body hoping that she would wake up. He couldn't lose her again.

"Rossi and Reid go put him in the back of the SUV, for now," Hotch insisted when Reid had asked what to do with the complaining Duncan.

"Morgan, go wait for the ambulance-"

"NO!"

"What?" Hotch asked.

"I'm not leaving her…"

Hotch suddenly clued in, "Alright, JJ let's wait and get the little girl checked out."

The sirens rang out in the distance, the paramedics rushed in, one to check on the little girl, on to take Duncan in a separate ambulance and three went to Emily and Derek.

With a quick check over that Emily was breathing and stabilized, they moved her on to a stretcher. The team got into the SUV's to follow the ambulance, with the little girl coming with them because she refused to let go of JJ. Derek followed the stretcher, all the while holding Emily's hand. He hopped in the back of the ambulance. The sirens were on and it was moving with two SUV's following behind. Derek just sat there maintaining the grip he had on his best friend's hand because he just couldn't seem to force himself to let her go.

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><p>AN: So I made a few changes to the prolouge to fit in better with the case, because as always it didn't turn out how I thought it would. Oh i also said that there would be 2 more chapters last chapter, I ment 3. So mow there will (hopefully) be 2 more. I will end on 13... that's convenient.


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: On the home stretch now, only one more chapter after this. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and favourited (is that even a word?)!

I hope you enjoy and reviews are welcome! :)

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><p>Friday, April 13th – 7:25 p.m.<p>

Derek sat next to the hospital bed holding Emily's un-casted hand while he waited for her to wake up. The doctor's said that she would need some time for her body to recover, and she probably wouldn't wake up for a bit.

The team had stopped in periodically to check in on Emily but had returned to close up the case. When Hotch had visited he had told Derek to stay with Emily, the team would take care of everything back at the precinct. It was a good thing to because there was no way Derek planned on leaving anytime soon.

Hotch had also mentioned earlier on in the day that he would have a talk with the both of them when they returned to Quantico about this 'relationship. Derek insisted nothing had happened…yet.

Derek moved his thumb in circles across the smooth skin of Emily's hand. She looked to small lying in the hospital bed, her skin so pale it blended into the sheets. The only thing that ensured him the glass was half full was the insistent doctors who declared that Emily would make a full recovery.

xXxXxXx

Saturday, April 14th – 2:12 a.m.

He had been sitting in the uncomfortable hospital chair all day, looking a t the brunette when he felt her hand tighten around his.

Then her eye lids fluttered, so he whispers, "Wake up, Em," to coax her out of her sleep.

Emily groaned in response, and then her eyes flashed open. "What the hell happened?" She asked with a scratchy voice, "It feel like I was hit by a car."

Derek laughed, "It wasn't a car again…It was a window this time."

"That's a new one," was her sarcastic reply.

Emily started to push herself and whimpered, but she was stopped by Derek, "Whoa, girl where do you think you're going?"

"Home?" It was more of a question then a statement.

"I don't think so; you can't leave until the morning, Princess

"But Derek you know I hate hostipals,"

Emily stopped talking as she saw the Doctor walk in.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Adams, Ms. Prentiss," the doctor began, but was cut of by Derek.

"Agent."

"Ah yes, it's good to see you awake, Agent Prentiss," the older woman started again, "You will be in some pain, for the next few days. You have a minor concussion, and not your first either, two broken ribs, several bruised ribs, and a broken radius from your fall. There's also slight bruising on your shoulder and side that will heel on its own."

Emily just nodded along, so Dr. Adams continued, "Any questions?"

"Just one, when can I go?"

Dr. Adams had to laugh at her patient's eagerness to leave the hospital. "We will keep you over night for observation, because of your previous concussions."

Emily knew better then to push, and sagged back into bed.

"You should not be doing any heavy lifting with your broken right arm. Also any strain on the ribs will counter the healing. Take it easy, which means NO FIELD WORK for at least four weeks, preferably six."

Emily shot a glare at the doctor, but was unable to reply because Derek did for her, "Don't worry Doc, she's staying with me. I'll make sure she doesn't go back into the field too soon."

This caused Emily to turn her glare to Derek, she waited for the doctor to exit before ripping in to him, "I'll go back into the field when I say I'm ready!

"I know, you're a big girl," Derek humoured her; "I just like to pretend I boss you around."

She had to smile; Emily could never stay mad at him for long. She then yawned, realizing how tired she was even though she had slept all day.

"Hey, how about you go back to sleep, I'll be here in the morning."

"Wait," Emily needed to know one thing before she went to sleep, "What happened to the Unsub?"

"After I shot him, Rossi, Hotch, and Reid, cuffed him and put him into one of the SUV's. There was enough evidence in the garage that he gave a full confession," Derek explained. "JJ did find a little girl, she was still alive."

"And her mother?"

"Was already dead," He responded solemnly and Emily's face reflected his tone of voice.

"Well at least we got the bastard!" Emily smiled softly at the outcome, "He can't hurt anymore woman or children."

"We?" Derek asked hoping to return the humour to their conversation, "Princess, you were totally out of it. It was all me!"

"I brought him to the ground, Derek!"

"No way," he joked until she slapped him with her uninjured hand.

"Okay, okay!" Derek held his hands up in defence, "It was all you!"

She smugly replied, "Thank-you."

Derek took a second to look her over again, "I'm really glad you're okay, you had me worried," he whispered to her as he took her hand again and pressed a kiss to her palm. "I don't know what I'd do if I'd you."

Emily immediately apologized, "Derek I'm so sorry, I should have cleared the room…"

"Em, I'm just glad you're here," He admitted softly.

To emphasize that she was before him, Derek leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, worried that he would hurt her. When he heard no complaints he did so again, this time deepening the kiss to fulfill both their needs.

"Get some rest, Em," he encouraged.

"Good Night Derek," she looked at him and knew she had to say it, they both felt it, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

With one last kiss she fell asleep.

xXxXxXx

9:28 a.m.

Emily woke up and saw Derek slumped in the chair next to her. He still had a firm grip on her hand, which made her smile. She wanted to wake up everyday and see him.

Derek felt Emily stir and woke up; he looked into her brown eyes, "Hey," and leaned in to kiss her good morning.

Their greeting was cut short when they heard shuffling outside her hospital door. JJ, Hotch, Spencer and Dave all entered. Reid was holding up a laptop, while saying, "See I told you she was okay!"

Penelope Garcia ignored the genius, "Oh Peaches!"

"Hey guys, I'm fine really! And Garcia, I'll see you really soon."

"She really is," Dr Adams stated, as she too entered the room, "To prove it to you I have her release papers right here."

The male members of the BAU were kicked out of her room. JJ stayed in to help Emily get dressed.

Emily exited her room, walking slightly slower than usual, but still on her won two feet. She suddenly exclaimed, "NO!"

The team to turned to see Derek with a wheelchair. He smiled one of his award winning smiles, "You remember how much fun I had pushing you in one of these last time?"

Emily shook her head, but eventually gave in after Derek said that she could push him around if he ever got injured. She would hold him to it.

It seemed that this shitty week had finally come to an end.

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><p>AN: Sorry that this one is alittle shorter. The Epilogue will be up next. It will finish with Derek and Emily back at his place.


	14. Epilogue

A/N: The last chapter! I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through this by reviewing or alerting. It really means a lot to me.

Without further ado, the last part of The Best Week of Her Life…Enjoy! :)

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><p>Epilogue<p>

Saturday, April 14th – 3:43 p.m.

The team had flown back to Quantico as soon as Emily had been cleared. Everything had been resolved at the Idaho precinct and the team was just glad to be home. Hotch had sent them all home to sleep, not allowing them to come in until Monday, the paperwork could wait until then.

Emily returned 'home' to Derek's place where they were greeted by Clooney at the door. Derek let Clooney out and was sorting through his mail in the kitchen. Emily sat down on the living room couch, she was exhausted. Even though she had rested at the hospital, the toll of the week was finally catching up with her.

Now that she was back, she was going to have to find a place to stay, she couldn't keep living off of Derek, even if she wanted to, it wouldn't be fair to him. She sighed; now just add apartment hunting to her list of events that she wished she could have avoided this week. This list included flooded apartment, falling in the mud (twice), spilling coffee and tripping. Oh and on the top of the list being pushed out of window, hospital visit and a deranged Unsub who liked to hurt woman and children.

Derek entered the room to see Emily staring at the wall; she had a blank expression on her face. If he was honest with himself, he was worried about her. Emily had been quiet the plane ride home, but everyone had taken it has fatigue due to injuries. Derek knew better, she obviously had something that was puzzling her on her mind, he could tell by her look.

She was pulled from her recollection by Derek; he was helping her up, "Let's go get something to eat."

Emily merely nodded.

"Do you want to go out, order in or I could make you something?" He asked gently.

"Order in, is fine," Emily responded. "Then I'll go house hunting."

Derek brushed off her admission as he looked for takeout menus. He would need to find a way to talk her into staying with him.

Their Chinese food arrived an hour or so later and the pair had chatted softly while waiting. They spoke of mostly random topics, where the answers seemed to hold no deeper meaning. Questions of favourite colours, bands, outfits. In reality, Derek and Emily used these questions to learn more about each other. Sure, they had worked together for years, but you never really take the time to learn the basic facts.

xXxXxXx

8:11 p.m.

After dinner Derek had taken Clooney for a run, Emily had decided not to join them. She stayed at Derek's place and began to pack up her backs. It may look like she was running from him, well she was. They had decided to try a relationship, but Emily's fear of failure where starting to take over. The "What-if's?" were clouding her judgement. She wanted to get away from him, that way they could try a relationship and build it slowly. So if they happened to not work out, they wouldn't have so much invested in it. They could go back to the way they were and not have lost too much. If she stayed here and they failed, she would be at risk of losing one of her best friends and she couldn't chance that.

Derek returned home with Clooney when it finally became darker outside. He saw her outside by her car, loading the items that she had brought into his house. "What are you doing Em?"

"Umm," Emily blushed, feeling like a guilty child. "Packing up my car, I have to find myself a new apartment."

"I thought you were going to stay here?" Derek asked hopefully.

"Yeah well…"

"Do you not want to be with me?" He asked now feeling hurt.'

"No Derek, it's not that. I just don't want to rush anything."

"Rush? Em, we've known each other for six years. How is that rushing?"

When Emily was unsuccessful in finding an answer Derek dragged her back into his home.

"What's this really about Emily?"

"Well I was thinking," she stated.

Derek smirked. Everyone knew that sometimes when Emily got thinking she would get so wrapped up in her thoughts and get tunnel vision. She could only see the worst possible outcome. "That's you're problem."

"Derek!" She rolled her eyes, "I just do not want to crowd you."

"You weren't crowding me before, how could you now?"

Emily only shrugged.

"I've told you before I want you stay here, okay?"

Emily nodded, but Derek could see it in her eyes that she was not convinced. He knew she just needed some more time to process, so he went into the kitchen to fill Clooney's water dish.

When Derek returned, Emily's eyes were slightly glazed over. Tears had been building up, but with Emily's emotional strength she was able to keep them at bay.

Finally she spoke, but it was barely a whisper, "What if we break up?"

Derek smiled, so that's what has been bugging her, "Do you really have that little faith in us Princess?" he joked.

"Derek, I'm serious!"

"So am I when I tell you, I love you. I don't say it lightly, or throw it out there to anyone. You are it for me, Emily Prentiss and it is going to take a lot to get rid of me. And how will we ever know if we don't try, right? We may have our share of fights, but at the end of the day I will always love you Em."

The whole time he was speaking a smile was blossoming over Emily's face. He wanted them to be together, "I love you too, Derek. I'm still afraid to lose you, but I want to try, I need you in my life." She knew that as long as she had him by her side they would fight for them, no matter what.

10:03 p.m.

The two had decided to enjoy each other's company, as they unpacked Emily's car. It was decided that she would be staying with Derek. It could seem like they were moving fast, but to two people who had known each other for years, it was the right speed for them.

They were seated on the couch with Clooney sloped over them watching television. Derek suddenly pushed the large dog to the ground. "Sorry buddy, its bed time."

Emily laughed, but suddenly stopped when Derek picked her up and was in the process of carrying her to his room.

"Hey! Caveman, put me down."

"I don't think so Princess," he replied with a smile.

Derek tried to open the door with one hand causing Emily to squeal and she began to slip, "You better not drop me!"

"You are so bossy, one minute its put me down, the next pick me up, make a choice woman!" He joked with her.

"Do you want me to kick your ass Derek Morgan?"

They entered the room and Derek shut the door. Emily's giggles and Derek's laughter could still be heard by Clooney who sat guard outside the door. This day had turned out pretty well, or maybe it was the whole week. Whatever it was it had worked out great for the both of them.

THE END!

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><p>AN: Once again thanks to all of those who have patiently waited for updates, and who have reviewed! You guys are the best! I can now move on to other projects I wanted to work on. With this one out of the way hopefully now focus on some one shots or something.


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